More About the Food Safety Act

By Miryam Ehrlich Williamson

Remember the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act fiasco? It was all but enacted when someone discovered a Constitutional glitch: it should have been passed first by the House and sent over to the Senate, because it included a money-raising provision.

Well, the House passed the Senate version of the bill on Dec. 8 as part of a continuing resolution to fund the government for the next several months. Now it’s up to the Senate, which appears ready to vote on it Monday, Dec. 13.

And if you’ve heard, as I have, claims that food safety act will bury small farmers in piles of regulations and paperwork because of flaws in the Tester Amendment, the one that exempts small farms, worry not. There’s a great discussion refuting those claims. If you’re one of those small farmers, it’s worth a look.